With only two weeks on the water, the Fairfield University men's and women's rowing teams went to the Jesuit Invitational looking to make an early mark on the 2012 spring season. With a roster that included both experience and inexperience, the Stags fared well in their season opening event which was highlighted by a second-place finish by the novice 4+.
 
            The crew of Katherine Pitz, Carmen Fox, Eileen Harris, Anne Baudinet and coxswain Mikayla Daniels placed behind only Boston College. The team did finish ahead of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) rival Loyola University.
 
            The women's varsity 8+ also raced well with a third-place finish, trailing Boston College and St. Joseph's. The team consisted of Molly Graffam, Kim Beatty, Avery Adams, Lorena Gullotta, Genevieve Bleidner, Katherine Pitz, Liz Kavanagh, Sam Matte, and coxswain Jhomalys Moran.
           
            The women's novice 8+ crossed the finish line fourth in its race behind the efforts of Eileen Harris, Carmen Fox, Grace Lessard, Anne Baudinet, Sylvia Cheng, Corin Oley, Marisol Almonte, Clarissa Frank and coxswain Mikayla Daniels. The varsity 4+ also posted an identical finish in its event with Molly Graffam, Kim Beatty, Genevieve Bleidner, Liz Kavanagh, and coxswain Jhomalys Moran comprising the shell.
 
            The men's team also performed admirably during the day with the varsity 4+ securing a second-place finish to Loyola. The team included Brendan Spearing, Ed Weiner, Matt McNeill, Floris-Jan Floris and coxswain Shannon Dermody.
 
            The novice 8+ also took second in a field that included Georgetown and Loyola. Fairfield finished 17 seconds ahead of Loyola and enjoyed its best finish against Georgetown since the 2002 season. The novice 8 was just reward for the hard work of Tom Siddall, Luke Auger, Cameron Bowen, Cameron Shalkowski, Sam Sullivan, Ariel Miranda, Stacey Grasso, Rocco Vigorito and coxswain Trent Domingos.
 
Fairfield's men's Varsity 4+ of Brendan Spearing, Ed Weiner, Matt McNeill and Floris-Jan Floris coxed by Shannon Dermody also finished 2^nd to Loyola.
 
The men's Varsity 8+ of Matt McNeill, Floris-Jan Floris, Brendan Spearing, Scott Grueneberg, Tom Siddall, Ed Weiner, Phil Falco, Brenin Ford coxed by Shannon Dermody had a tough race and finished 4^th; but like the women, left themselves plenty of room to build on boat speed.
 
Coach David Patterson's Comments:
With only two weeks on the water, far less than any of the other teams, and having trained 2-3 times daily for spring break, the Stags oarswomen and oarsmen opened their season ready and eager, but somewhat fatigued. The crews also went to the starting line with two coxswains both with only a semester of experience and two coxswains both with only two weeks of experience. Any kind of racing is a baptism of fire, but far better for them to get the experience in the low key environment of the small scale regattas like the Jesuit Invitational and the Sacred Heart Invitational coming up before the stresses that come with the much bigger regattas Knecht Cup and the Dad Vail. It took great character and commitment from our fledgling coxswains and they will continue to grow in confidence and competence as the season progresses. With more miles of training, our rowers will gain speed, our coxswains will develop mastery of both the boats and their athletes and combined we will become more competitive against the better crews!